German submarine U-45 (1938)
German submarine ''U-45'' was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. She was laid down on 23 February 1937 at Germaniawerft in Kiel at yard number 580 and went into service on 17 August 1938 under the command of Kapitänleutnant' Kurt Steiner. During ''U-45's career, she sank a total of 29 enemy vessels and damaged two more. She was responsible for the sinking of the British battleship HMS Royal Oak on 9 October 1939. U-45 ranks as one of the most successful German U-boats of World War II. On 5 June 1940, she was rammed by the HMS Flamingo ''and her crew was forced to surrender. Design German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. ''U-45 ''had a displacement of 753 tonnes (741 long tons) when at the surface and 857 tonnes (843 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 66.50 m (218 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 48.80 m (160 ft 1 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.50 m (31 ft 2 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8-276 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft). The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.9 knots (33.2 km/h; 20.6 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). When submerged, the boat could operate for 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,700 nautical miles (16,100 km; 10,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). ''U-45 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun with 220 rounds, and one 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty. Service History U-45 carried out eleven combat patrols and spent a total of 122 days at sea. She sank 29 enemy ships (totalling 131,892 tons) and damaged two more. U-45 lost a total four crewmen: the first, Werner Altmann, was killed by a British aircraft on 24 October 1939. Axel Bauer, Erich Schendel, and Otto Grau were killed on 5 June 1940 when U-45 was rammed by HMS Flamingo. '''First Patrol On 1 September 1939, U-45 departed Kiel for operations off of Poland's north coast. She went on to sink three ships. She returned to Kiel on 14 September 1939. Second Patrol U-45 Departed Kiel on 9 September 1939 to patrol the North Sea. She sunk on ship on 23 September 1939, and returned to Kiel on 24 September 1939. Third Patrol U-45 sailed from Kiel on 30 September 1939 at 04:34 on her third patrol of the war. At approx. 0500, she suffered a catastrophic failure of her electric engines and was forced to return to port. At 0602, she docked in her pen at Kiel. Her engines were fixed by the end of 5 October 1939 Fourth Patrol On 6 October 1939 at 0119, U-45 began her fourth patrol. On 9 October 1939 (three days after leaving port) at approximately 15:30, she maneuvered into Scapa Flow, the primary base of the Royal Navy, where she sunk the battleship HMS Royal Oak ''while she was at anchor. '''Fifth Patrol' The crew of U-45 returned to the sea thoroughly decorated on 21 October 1939. On 25 October, while traveling through the North Sea, U-45 was attacked by a British Hawker Hurricane. One crew member, Werner Altmann, was killed. U-45 went on to raid a convoy north of Ireland and sunk five ships, while damaging two more. She returned to Kiel on 5 November 1939. Sixth Patrol U-45 left Kiel on her sixth patrol on 19 November 1939. While patrolling the North Sea, she sunk one ship and returned to Kiel on 30 November 1939. Seventh Patrol U-45 left Kiel on 23 December 1939 to patrol of the coast of Western France. She sunk six ships and returned to Kiel on 13 January 1940. Eighth Patrol On 5 February 1940, U-45 left Kiel to patrol of the Norwegian coast. She sunk two ships and returned to Kiel on 12 February 1940. Ninth Patrol U-45 left Kiel on 6 March 1940 for an uneventful patrol in the North Sea. She encountered no ships and returned to Kiel on 16 March 1940. Tenth Patrol U-45 left Kiel on 12 April 1940 to support the German invasion of Norway. She sunk three ships before returning to Kiel on 2 May 1940. Fate On 29 May 1940, U-45 left Kiel on what would become her final patrol. She was patrolling off the coast of Scotland on 5 June when she received a radio message from her superiors. U-45 was informed that the aircraft carrier HMS Furious was secretly anchored on the nearby Firth of Forth. Whereas in actuality, she was not. None-the-less, U-45 entered the Firth and sunk two ships, one destroyer and one cargo ship one its way down. At 16:26, she was spotted by the HMS Flamingo, a Black Swan ''class corvette. Flamingo made to ram ''U-45, who fired two torpedoes at 16:32. Both torpedoes missed and U-45 fired one more, which hit Flamingo at the last moment. The torpedo caused an explosion aboard Flamingo, but did not stop her; she rammed U-45's starboard side at 16:35. U-45 was severely damaged and three crewmen were killed. Steiner radioed the approaching cruiser HMS Arethusa ''to inform them of his surrender. He then gave his crew the order to scuttle the ship. A total of three crew members were killed, while Steiner and the rest of the crew became POWs for the remainder of the war. References '''Notes' # Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement. Citations # Kemp 1997, p. 69. # Gröner 1991, pp. 43–44. # Fairbank White 2006, p. 79. # Fairbank White 2006, p. 81. # C.B. 04051 (20) "U 45" Interrogation of Survivors. Naval Intelligence Division, Admiralty. April 1941. p. 7. # C.B. 04051 (20) "U 45" Interrogation of Survivors. Naval Intelligence Division, Admiralty. April 1941. p. 14. # Fairbank White 2006, p. 82–83. Bibliography * Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-186-6. * Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German). IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2. * Edwards, Bernard (1996). Dönitz and the Wolf Packs – The U-boats at War. Cassell Military Classics. pp. 23, 27, 28, 32, 35, 42–44, 48–49. ISBN 0-304-35203-9. * Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4. * Fairbank White, David (2006). Bitter Ocean – The dramatic story of the Battle of the Atlantic 1939–1945. Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7553-1089-0. * Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed, German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.